Bored AND Stupid: How The Cinnamon Challenge Can Kill You

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[photogallerylink id=99098 align=left]Have you heard about it? Have you tried it? “The Cinnamon Challenge…” Everyone is talking about it. Even doctors, school administrations, and parents. The dangerous challenge means swallowing a teaspoon of cinnamon without drinking water, in 60 seconds.

The “challenge” has become such a craze, that videos of teens attempting the game have gone VIRAL all over YouTube and Facebook. Videos show the teens chocking, gagging, and spitting while attempting to down the cinnamon.

NBA players Nick Young and JaVale McGee even attempted the Cinnamon Challenge when the craze was just born, posting this video:

According to ABC, “Doctors say the challenge is impossible because the cinnamon cannot be digested without water and warn that by inhaling the cinnamon dust teens run the risk of inflaming or scarring their lungs.”

Dr. Robert Zaid of Providence Hospital in Mobile, Alabama explained:

“If you have some fine particles, like cinnamon in your lungs, it may be hard to clear out, your lungs can kind of collapse on you. There have been several cases reported where kids needed ventilator support because they weren’t able to maintain their airway.”

The Detroit News reported that Michigan school administrators are making parents aware of the dangers of the challenge after “four related cases were reported to Children’s Hospital of Michigan Regional Poison Control Center in the last month alone.”

ABC also reported the incident of Dejah Reed, a freshman at Huron High School in Ann Arbor, Michigan. She spent four days in the hospital with “an infection and a collapsed right lung after she ingested cinnamon two week ago.”

According to her father Fred Reed, “She was going in and out of consciousness. She couldn’t breathe. She was turning pale. I hope parents and kids learn that it’s not fun and games. She could have died.”

The challenge’s site, Cinnamonchallenge.com, even has a disclaimer splattered on the homepage:

“DO NOT ATTEMPT THE CINNAMON CHALLENGE WITHOUT TALKING WITH A DOCTOR. OBVIOUSLY THEY ARE GOING TO TELL YOU NOT TO DO IT. THE CINNAMON CHALLENGE CAN BE DANGEROUS AND SHOULDN’T BE TAKEN LIGHTLY. YOU NEVER WANT TO PURPOSELY OR MISTAKINGLY INHALE ANY SUBSTANCES SUCH AS CINNAMON. IT’S GOING TO BURN, YOU ARE GOING TO COUGH, AND REGRET YOU TRIED…SO WATCH MOVIES OF PEOPLE ALREADY FEELING THE PAIN.”